The Long, Long Trailer (1954)

It probably isn't too much of a stretch to imagine that a new bride in the early 1950s would consider living in a mobile home so that she could be with her husband who otherwise would be away from home many days because of his job. Indeed, there were many families in the early 20th century who lived in trailers to follow work in oil drilling, dam building, and other construction. In "The Long, Long Trailer," Desi Arnaz plays a civil engineer, Nicky Collini, and Lucille Ball plays his fiancé then wife, Tacy. Before their marriage, the couple discusses setting up their home. Nicky says, "We'll have a home, darling." Tacy, "What kind of a home, when your work takes you to all those places – Colorado, Montana, Idaho?" Nicky, "All right. All right. I won't go to Colorado. I'll get another job." Tacy, "Oh, no. I didn't mean that. This is a wonderful chance for you. Anyway, it'll always be something like that. If it isn't a tunnel in Colorado, it'll be a bridge in Alaska or a dam across the Pacific." So, Tacy convinces Nicky that they should set up their house on wheels when they get married. From there on, Tacy an Nicky give us one very funny and sometimes hair-raising escapade after another. This movie was based on a 1951 novel of the same name by Clinton Twiss. In it, his couple buy a new trailer home and spend a year driving across the United States. I know half a dozen couples who sold their homes after retiring around the turn of the 21st century. They bought RV-mobile homes and now travel across the U.S. They might stay a couple of weeks in one place, and a few months in another. Every couple of years they try to rendezvous somewhere around the country. Anyone who has lived in a mobile home – who has moved from place to place, knows the travails of driving and handling a trailer. One thing that can be said about it is that one doesn't wind up saving lots of things and collecting stacks of mementos. When things are no longer of use, one gets rid of them. The simple lack of space dictates thriftiness, neatness, and practicality. Well, that is, until Tacy Collini decided to take up trailer travel and living. The humor in the early part of the film is in watching Nicky – the expressions on his face – as Tacy pulls him into one step after another toward buying a new trailer home. Then they need a new car that is capable of pulling the longest trailer on the market. And, then her friends help move her trousseau into their new home. I don't know how long a time span the film covered, but after their wedding Tacy and Nicky head from California to Denver. At one point we see them at the beach along the coast, then we see them driving through forests and in the mountains. I think the latter was supposed to be the Rockies in Colorado, but the film was all made in California. The scenic shots in the Sierra Nevadas were quite beautiful – lending to Tacy's claim about an advantage being their seeing the beauty of the country. One of the funniest scenes was Tacy's trying to prepare dinner in the trailer while Nicky is driving. Again, anyone with background knows it's not been legal for people to ride in a mobile home. Tacy learned the hard way why her idea wouldn't work – all to the viewer's delight, of course. Another scene I found very funny wasn't at all humorous to the bystanders. The couple stopped to visit and stay a few days with Tacy's aunt and uncle – somewhere in California. In backing the trailer into their driveway, Nicky runs over the aunt's favorite rose bush, then rips out and destroys a beautiful arboretum arch over the driveway. The relatives look on in shock as the trailer tears up their property. The next day Tacy and Nicky leave – apparently already having overstayed their welcome. Of course, with Tacy's wedding trousseau, the trailer is quite packed. But now they add a couple cases of home-canned goodies from an aunt. After a few stops, the trailer takes on more goods in the large rocks that Tacy has decided to collect – one from each of their stops. These will make a nice ring around their front entrance when they set up home near Denver. The Mayhem continues throughout this film. The couple weathers storms, steep mountain roads and more travel mishaps. The question is, will their marriage survive all this? You'll just have to watch "The Long, Long Trailer" to find out.

My 4 kids grew up knowing I was a huge I Love Lucy fan, watching it whenever it was on. So when I found a copy of this movie in a video store about 20 years ago, my youngest remarked, "What are Lucy & Ricky doing in color?" Well, that's the reason they agreed to do this movie, because it would be filmed in color. Lucy & Desi are just as good in this hilarious comedy as they were on TV. They play a pair of newlyweds, Stacy & Nicky, who buy a long, long trailer. Nicky is hesitant, but Stacy talks him into it. Once they purchase the trailer, it becomes "one long nightmare," almost breaking up their marriage (while on their honeymoon). I don't know why this movie was hardly ever shown on TV because is's very entertaining. I had to order it on Netflix & will probably end up buying the DVD on Amazon.com. Plus it's nice to see Lucy & Desi in color!

Lucy and Ricky are on the road. Oh, yes they're on the lam, fugitives from Manhattan and hiding out from Fred and Ethel, taking on the new identities of "Nicky" and Tacy." But they can't fool us. It's the Ricardos up to their old tricks, furious and fast. They're newlyweds and Tacy subjects them both to a honeymoon of horrors as they start on the road of life. Tacy empties "the rocks in her head" and keeps them as mementos of their trip, stashing them in the trailer, weighing it down, courting the disaster of an over-weighted trailer collapsing on the road and tilting over a cliff and into a ravine. Tacy loves Nicky's "elegant " nose and cooks him, or tries to cook him, elegant dinners within the minuscule trailer kitchen. Of course this provides a comic set-up, literally, at full tilt, as food, utensils, and everything not nailed down swoops down all over the place. No matter, nothing, but nothing will dampen Tacy's enthusiasm for trailer life. Her wifely responsibility is to take care of her new husband. She tells him that when she first met him, she almost teared up, she felt so sorry for him because he was out in public with a button missing from his shirt. He needed a woman's care. More specifically, the tender care of a madcap like her. This is pretty much the duo you see on the classic "I Love Lucy" TV shows. If you love them there, you'll love them everywhere. Even in this movie.

i found this gem starring the husband and wife team of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz quite enjoyable there are a lot of funny moments here here,most of them of the laugh out loud,belly laugh variety.from start to finish,this is one immensely entertaining film.but then,with these two comedic geniuses at the helm,how could it not be.that one scene where they are climbing up the mountain road is something else.although the film is 103 minutes,it moves at a very quick pace,and is over before you know it.if you're a fan of classic movies and you're feeling down,throw this film in,it's guaranteed to pick you up.for me,The Long, Long Trailer is an 8/10